PAUL FISHER
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 05:11 PM |
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TVR, just for the noise is a good enough reason to buy one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSlkKO-ERD0&feature=related
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hicost blade
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 05:13 PM |
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Other....
I would save up a little more and get one of these.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201032365301314/sort/priceasc/usedcars/body-type/convertible/model/alpina/make/bmw/page/1/radius/1500/po
stcode/ox117qr?logcode=p
Although horrible in Z4 guise, the Alpina version is actually quite nice....
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franky
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 05:23 PM |
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2nd the above
Or if you're feeling like a car thats going up in value a BMW z3m coupe.
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hicost blade
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 05:28 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by franky
2nd the above
Or if you're feeling like a car thats going up in value a BMW z3m coupe.
^^^Or that^^^ although the Z4 chassis is a little more refined
[Edited on 25/8/10 by hicost blade]
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Oss
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 06:23 PM |
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I've actually owned three of these. The 160 MGTF was excellent, balanced handling, obviously extremely cheap and not losing any capital value
now. The down sides were too little power and the visibility in the wet on a motorway was very poor, The other thing was the hood was manual, so
needed to get out of the car to put it up.
I swapped it for the Honda S2000. This car was great for normal driving around, electric roof was so quick you can put it up at a set of traffic
lights or whilst driving upto about 10 mph - this makes a massive difference to the user experience. The engine only livens up after about 6200 rpm,
so you end up ragging it everywhere. The handling was OK, but not as balanced as the MGTF. Lovely build and easy to drive by the wife.
I had the original XKR, (370bhp, 4.0l supercharged). The performance in a straight line was amazing, I'd liken the accel to a plane taking off
- auto box so easy to drive, but with J gate you can get some control. Running costs were quite high, and I found the pirelli tyres were poor in the
wet. (Also crap in snow - HAVE to turn off traction control). I ended up swapping them to Good Year Eagle F1 GD3s - much better wet performance. The
handling was relatively poor, very heavy but I believe the facelift model (2004?) makes a big difference. You get a lot of car for your money and a
big boot and the 2+2 rear seats for plenty of luggage space. I took this to Le Mans (with my wife) and it was fantastic.
I’ve also test driven a few of the others:
The MX5 (1.8). The car was nice, but underpowered and bland in my opinion. Suffers from manual roof too.
The Elise does have excellent handling but the S1 has very high sills which my wife did not approve of!
The Chimera is very aggressive – you will end up in a hedge at some point, even more so for the Tuscan. I took a Griffith 500 for a test drive and
almost lost it on some mildly damp road which was underneath some overhanging trees – and I thought I was being careful! The turning circles are poor
as is the reliability. However, the tuscan is in my opinion, the most beautiful looking car.
The only one I haven’t personally experienced is the MR2, although I know a number of people who have enjoyed them and you get the reliability and low
running costs.
Given your description of use, I would suggest the XKR if you can put up with 17mpg and generally high costs (£250 for a rear tyre for instance). If
costs are a big factor, then the S2000. It’s easy to drive, fun, reliable, electric roof (think sun as well as rain). Proper air con is a must.
Btw, my sig pic is of my R500 (Kevlar seats) driven to the alps - so practibility isn't everything. Needless to say, my wife didn’t come with
me!
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Marcus
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 07:09 PM |
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I voted for MGTF mainly cos 3 of us toured the south of France 2 years ago in them and really enjoyed it. We had plenty of luggage space (unlike an
MR2) and none of us broke down!!
Marcus
Because kits are for girls!!
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LBMEFM
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| posted on 25/8/10 at 07:13 PM |
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Thanks for all the replies, I know the Honda S2000 makes sense but the Jag and the TVR are still very tempting. Once again cheers, Barry
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